Level 1

11 points

Unresponsive Keyboard and Trackpad problem FIXED/RESOLVED

I've been dealing with this issue since early December myself.
I purchased the MBP in November and had nearly a month with out any issues.

I spent nearly two hours on the phone with Apple Care via a specialist trying to diagnose the problem yesterday.
He did mention that they believe neither the 10.5.1 update or the MBP 1.1 update were to blame for occurrence of this issue. (I remain slightly skeptical)

Let me give you a short rundown of my problems and what I've done to help resolve the issue. Hopefully it'll help some of you.. or help me (with some of everyone else insight) if it happens again.

The symptoms:
keyboard and trackpad become unresponsive.
The problem is intermittent but often is completely unresponsive at start up.
USB mouse and keyboards have full functionality.

Kernel panics often occur as well. Usually this occurs just after the keyboard and track pad experience extreme intermittent "on and off" periods.
The only option is to do a hard-restart which my or may not resolve the unresponsiveness.

Things I've addressed in my particular case:

1. The battery recall issue - my battery (6N745288YFTA) is OK.
2. Resetting the PMU - no change.
3. Re-installing both the 10.5.1 and MBP 1.1 updates - no effect.
4. pressing the Function + S key at start up and running /sbin/fsck -fy The HD is said to be OK
5. I just finished an Archive and reinstall of Leopard = this seems to have fixed the issue for the moment. I have not run the Updater to bring the OS back to it's fully updated form yet.

The Archive and Re-install DID NOT WORK.
Even upon downloading and installing the 10.5.1 and 1.1 update, I'm still back at square one.

I've also been experiencing these phantom keystrokes to the eject key and backlight myself lately.

I've resolved to wait for the 10.5.2 official release to see of that helps... If not then I'll break down and send my machine in for service.

_____________________________________
Model Name: MacBook Pro
Model Identifier: MacBookPro3,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.4 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 4 MB
Memory: 2 GB
Bus Speed: 800 MHz
Boot ROM Version: MBP31.0070.B05
SMC Version: 1.16f10
Sudden Motion Sensor:
State: Enabled

THE SOLUTION:

This is a HARDWARE problem!

After playing around with removing the battery and noticing that this often returned functionality to the keyboard I surmised that this had some sort of physical aspect.
Sure enough, there is a section of copper colored tape/wiring exposed in the batter slot that is slightly bowed where it's smallest.
When I depressed this with my finger tip on this portion to basically flatten it out flush against the housing; I found that all functionality was restored!

You can see the portion in the picture below.

I haven’t had any problems AT ALL since I took a piece of napkin and taped it down to sustain pressure on this portion of bowed tape/wiring.

I have yet to call AppleCare to see what they suggest I do.
I will post a reply here when I hear their suggestion.

Mac Book Pro, Mac OS X (10.5.1), 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2 GB 667 MHz SDRAM

Posted on Jan 27, 2008 3:18 PM

382 replies

Mar 20, 2008 11:47 PM in response to Steve Eugene

Congratulations on this solution. We are all in your debt.

Regardless, I still think this is horrible on Apple's part and that they should fix it don't you think?

One question, how does this explain that the problems started after the update?

JJ81

Level 1

5 points

Mar 21, 2008 12:14 AM in response to raiu.kyuu

Nope, didn't work for me. Not that I expected it to because my freezing issue started right after the Feb 19th keyboard update, it's not a hardware problem for those who's computers only started freezing after the update.

Rod Hagen

Level 7

32,000 points

Mar 21, 2008 12:48 AM in response to JJ81

JJ81 wrote: +"it's not a hardware problem for those who's computers only started freezing after the update"+

Well it won't be for some, but it will be for others, JJH81. Anyone who has played around with computers for a decade or two or three or four will tell you that its when you get two or more possible issues running together that it is unwise to get dogmatic about causes.

If I had a quid for every occasion I've seen people here assume that their problem was due to this or that update simply because of the timing of the problem, and a few reports from others assuming it was to blame, only to find later after weeks of abusing the update that the real cause was something completely different, I reckon I'd be just about able to buy Apple outright! 😉

Cheers

Rod

Steve Eugene Author

Level 1

11 points

Mar 21, 2008 12:44 PM in response to Sawyersmith

I'm really happy that my obsession with this problem led to a solution for you.

I know it was a relief to find out the cause.
Too bad the "tape fix" isn't the most reassuring way to resolve the problem.
But in your case I'm glad it's been able to restore functionality so far from any official, apple help.

Apr 3, 2008 4:20 PM in response to Steve Eugene

You´re my man! Thanks! I´m so glad that anywhere in the world are people like you, who finding out such solutions. I´ve had exactly the same mbp, problems and (now the best) solution. Your post here helps not to fall in a long period of searching, reinstalling the os, changing firmwares etc. Thanks a lot. Know I know what to tell my service provider... But the important thing, to go on with my work until i´ve time to give up mbp away to service! again: *THANK YOU!!!*

chris

_om__

Level 1

10 points

Apr 7, 2008 8:32 AM in response to Steve Eugene

thanx a lot!
finally i'm understanding the problem. it explaines to me why it's was not a continuos problem.
the weird thing is; my MBP is only responding when the battery is totally out.. well okay.
I will check later (after letting it sleep for a longer period of time) if my used sticky will solve that problem.. temporarily ofcourse. and then up to the apple repair centre to get this permanetly fixed.
thanx again!
TOM

BlueCrab

Level 1

5 points

Apr 17, 2008 11:20 PM in response to Steve Eugene

I'm just adding my reply of thanks to this thread. I just wish I had seen this before I bought another keyboard.

I have yet to find the perfect balance to what will work, but I know that what has been suggested here fixes my problems.

Thanks!

Apr 22, 2008 6:44 AM in response to BlueCrab

Anybody hear about this keyboard/mouse/trackball (I have logitech keyboard and trackball) problem on Power Mac G5 Desktops?

I just installed a bunch of Software Updates last night and now I'm freezing every few minutes for a number of seconds.

Thanks!

Max

Apr 22, 2008 9:13 AM in response to Max Nelson1

do you have logi tech drivers/software installed?

some times that will cause and issue and from my experience at least with a logitech mouse the driver/software is not necessary for it to work
-matt

Apr 22, 2008 12:03 PM in response to Steve Eugene

I have a 2.6ghz MacBook Pro purchased in January, and have had this keyboard and trackpad freeze problem for the first time today. I followed this instructions in this thread: Powered off, took out the battery and pressed down on the orange ribbon cable. Surely enough, when I powered back on the keyboard and trackpad were working once again.

While it's great to get a fix for the problem so I can do my work this evening, I'm not very pleased with the shoddy build quality of the MBP. One of the reasons I got one of these is because it's supposed to be sturdy and well built. If I send the machine back to Apple I'm going to be without a computer while they repair it, which makes my job impossible. For a laptop which cost over £1500 this type of design fault is just not acceptable.

fokkeb

Level 1

0 points

Apr 25, 2008 9:12 AM in response to Steve Eugene

Thanks, this solved the problem for me as well!

At first I thought it was a software problem too as it coinsided with my upgrade to 10.5 about two months ago and having had no prior problems with Tiger... The unresponsiveness was intermittent lasting only a couple of seconds / minutes and seemed to go away after a reboot as well.

Since yesterday, however, nothing would help. The trackpad and keyboard remained dead. So I googled again and found this post. Fixed it temporarily with a small piece of folded paper. Just hope it doesn't turn in to a fire hazard 😉

Really hope Apple will design a permanent fix though. Simply getting a replacement will probably mean postponing the problem. Judging by all the postings from users on the web with keyboard/trackpad problems this is obviously a common problem / design flaw.

Anyway, thanks again!!!

Apr 25, 2008 9:20 AM in response to fokkeb

i dont think it really postpones the problem, it should fix it and not break again. you have to remember that wen you look at a thread or a forum you are looking at a very high concentration of issues. even common issues 99% of users dont experience.

-matt

fokkeb

Level 1

0 points

Apr 25, 2008 4:05 PM in response to mattathayde

I think you are right, of course not every MBP user has this issue. Maybe even a large mayority.

But it doesn't seem to be a very rare problem though, a Google-search on MPB key- and trackpad problems returns a lot of reactions from users on different forums. Of course I don't know how this translates into a actual percentage. Or even how many of these problems are caused by the tape-connector. I do however think the tape-connector is a weak link of the MBP...

If you just replace the parts involved and don't do anything to prevent the new connector from coming loose again, you might be lucky, but there is no guarantee the replacement will remain problem free. In addition to replacing the parts I also would like to see something done to minimize the risk of the problem occurring again...

By the way the MBP is my first Apple, I'm pretty impressed by the Mac OS and I'm happy with the macbook otherwise. I wouldn't want to live without it anymore... 🙂

_om__

Level 1

10 points

May 13, 2008 2:11 AM in response to Steve Eugene

Dear People,
i had the same problem and i fixed this temporarily with a piece of paper. still my MBP was unresponsive at some times and suddenly it became totally unresponsive. i was happy with my old and crappy bluetooth mouse and keyboard at that time..
but i had enough of the problem and brought it to a certified apple repair centre. they looked at is shortly and ordered a new topcase. a couple of days they called me again and replaced it while i was waiting. NO PROBLEMS EVER SINCE! I'm happy with my product again, it finally does what it should do.. work.
explanation of apple; there is a printboard in the topcase that could be the cause of the problem.
i hope this can help some of you!
greetings from holland. TOM

May 21, 2008 11:41 AM in response to Steve Eugene

i went in to get my machine checked out. because i was getting the first key to some times not register.

the tech checked it out and told me the bulge was not an issue and checked some settings. there is a delay setting under universal access that is there to keep clumsy people from hitting a hey as they put there hands on the KB basically. and for some reason it was turned on in my settings. the tech reset that and it seems to be perfectly fine now

-matt

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Unresponsive Keyboard and Trackpad problem FIXED/RESOLVED